Gun sales, registrations on the rise

Chris Lucente, right, asks salesman Alfred Ozga if the store had a Smith & Wesson M&P 15-22, a rifle chambered in .22lr that is similar looking to the military style AR-15, at Gun World in Harrisville, Pa. on Wednesday, Jan. 16, 2013. President Barack Obama urged Congress Wednesday to require background checks for all gun sales and ban military-style weapons and high-capacity ammunition magazines aiming at curbing gun violence in America. Lucente said he favors universal background checks but is not in favor of the ban. (AP Photo/Keith Srakocic)

EAST PIKELAND — A day after President Barack Obama put forth his recommendations for gun control, the firearms counter at French Creek Outfitters was particularly active.

At no point Thursday afternoon did the number of those hanging around the counter drop below a dozen. At one end, a man examined a military-inspired, semi-automatic rifle with the help of a clerk.

On the phone, one employee could be heard saying that the store was “sold out” of a particular firearm.

When asked about AR-15 rifles, one employee shook his head. “We’ve been sold out of those for weeks,” he said.

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Around the region, gun shops reported a run on rifles after the president announced he wants a ban on assault weapons renewed and all ammunition magazines sold limited to 10 rounds or less, among other proposals.

“Everything’s going pretty fast,” said one Montgomery County gun dealer who asked that his name not be published. “It started before Christmas.”

Although he said an spike in gun sales does occur around that time every year, he said it was a marked increase this year.

“Ever since the talk last year about Obama imposing gun controls, then everything went crazy,” the gun dealer said.

Two weeks before Christmas, Adam Lanza broke into Sandy Hook Elementary School and killed 20 children and six adults with a Bushmaster 223, similar to the AR-15 rifle, which can’t be kept on shelves as of late. That event touched off the recent discussion on gun control.

Charles Barber, whose store, Barber’s Firearms in Lower Frederick, deals mostly in hunting and sporting needs, said there has “absolutely” been a run on rifles like the AR-15.

“It’s usually busier this time of year,” Barber said, citing Christmas and tax returns prompting the buys. But the run on rifles is much higher this year, he said.

Although he doesn’t keep the AR-15s in stock, Barber said he will buy them for the state police if they need them. However, because of the high demand, getting the weapon is much more difficult now because the stores that keep them in stock have first crack.

The Montgomery County gun store owner who declined to be named said that the spike in sales of guns wasn’t confined to just the rifles like the ones that were recommended to be banned. He said consumers are also picking up .22 caliber rifles typically used in target shooting.

“I think it’s more of an interest in shooting,” he said.

Although the gun store owner typically didn’t deal with AR-15s, he said, the attitude in the industry is that those buying weapons “pretty much know what they want” and were making informed decisions about what they were buying.

Additionally, the gun store owner said registrations for gun ownership, which he deals with mostly, were on the rise.

“That’s something that goes hand in hand with,” the rise in firearms purchases, he said.

Although some may be buying the weapons for their personal use or defense, the gun store owner said many are probably buying the guns to turn a profit.

“They are an investment now,” he said. “There are people that bought them before all this and then sold them online for twice what they paid for them.”